Soul of Burning Steel

"Please sit down."

In the center of the small town named Arenn, in a sacrificial hall made entirely of rocks and white pyroxen, the Heroic Swordsman returned to his own seat—located in the center of the sacrificial hall, with a long stone sword inserted into it. In the sword mound of the sword, only an ethereal voice echoed in the hall.

And with the words of the heroic spirit, a wooden chair placed in the corner was moved by an invisible force and moved behind the warrior.

Joshua sat down unceremoniously, and then looked at the sacrificial hall with curious eyes.

Through the name of the town, the names of other villagers, and the name of this peak-level Heroic Spirit, the warrior can roughly guess the situation here—this entire village on the mountain is Yaren A descendant of Astoria, his name became the name of the town, and he also relied on the worship of his descendants to become a heroic spirit, and guarded his bloodline in these undead apocalypse.

This is something that can be easily guessed, and neither the swordsman nor the other villagers have concealed their intentions. It seems that this situation is a normal situation in the world of Grandia.

The mountains in the middle of the night always have a hint of coldness, but there are crystals flickering in the sacrificial hall, releasing the warm light of magic. In the sword mound like a trapezoidal altar, the calm voice of the old swordsman came out: "In order to reduce consumption, I will not appear as a physical body. If you want to come, you can understand."

"Of course I don't care."

Sitting on the chair, the soldier shrugged his shoulders. With the help of the system, he is now more and more proficient in Grandia's universal language: "But to be honest, Mr. Yaren, I can see that you don't welcome me. So now I won't be too polite, don't worry, as long as you can answer some of my doubts, I will leave naturally and not disturb your peaceful life."

How keen is the extreme intent warrior's observation ability, the faint alienation and indifference in the old swordsman's expression are not hidden, anyone can see it.

"It's not welcome, but it's not necessary, but facing a "Heaven Realm" strong man who suddenly appeared and claimed to be a person from another world, a small mountain town will naturally feel extremely terrified. Even this strong man, It's the same with no malice, just as a hare fears an elephant passing by its lair."

In the sword mound, Arien's faint voice sounded, and his reply was simple and direct, but it was also an expression of sincerity: "Soldier Joshua, you saved the life of my descendants, so as long as you ask, I will I will do my best to answer, and I promise that there will be no omissions, and I will not try to conceal anything, and I can assure you with my spirituality that this statement is true."

The language used by the old swordsman is the lingua franca of ancient Grandia. Its grammar and sentence structure are quite different from the current one. Even local people occasionally find it difficult to understand, but for Joshua who has a systematic dictionary Speaking, there is no difference between the two. Hearing Yaren's words, the warrior didn't hesitate at all, and simply asked: "What is the geography of this world? Where is this town located? Why is the wilderness outskirts There are so many shadow monsters?"

"This world is called Grandia, and its name comes from the first explorer who traveled around the continent. I will let others get a copy of the continent map for you later. This small town is located on the southeastern edge of the continent, further east Or go a little further to the south, and you will see the Green Tide Sea.”

Yaren's words were calm and clear. He seemed afraid that the soldiers would not be able to understand him. He would occasionally stop to explain two sentences of proper nouns, but when it came to the shadow monsters that Joshua said, the old man's tone finally brought There was a trace of anger: "As for those 'shadows of the dead', as the name suggests, they are naturally the shadows produced by the dead after they are revived."

Under the other party's careful narration, the soldier finally had a general understanding of the situation in this world.

About thirty years ago, the entire Grandia continent was divided and ruled by two powerful empires. The other small countries sandwiched between the two empires had long since lost their ability to be independent and could only become their vassals.

The two empires, one occupying the southeast of the mainland and the other occupying the northwest of the mainland, are divided and ruled by mountains, rivers, and natural fortresses. Because the internal development and internal conflicts of the two sides have reached a limit, and there is an urgent need to expand and divert the conflicts, so bloody conflicts will break out at the border from time to time, and proxy wars between small countries will also be launched from time to time. The contradictions of the Great Empire are irreconcilable, and everyone believes that a full-scale world-class war will break out within a year or two.

"And the 'Great Cataclysm' happened at that time." The old man recounted the events at that time in an indifferent tone as his emotions returned to stability.

The Ulan Empire, located in the northwest, has always been known for its powerful psychic powers. Psychic practice has even been popularized by the entire population in the country. If it weren't for the Gelug Empire in the southeast occupying the natural fortress, with three times the population, and the top "Heaven Realm" powerhouse is no less than, or even surpasses it, then the incomparably elite Ulan Psychic Army has already swept across The whole world has been unified, and the whole continent has been unified.

But on a certain day twenty-seven years ago, an unimaginable change occurred around the capital of the Ulan Empire, Gaetar. This city has a psychic emperor, six magic marshals, and a population of over seven million. In an inexplicable earthquake, the huge city guarded by more than ten celestial realm powerhouses instantly became a dead zone without any living beings. The three psychic wizard legions of the Ulan Empire tried to detect the changes in the capital. , but only a few survived.

"From that day on, the mutation centered on Getar and began to spread to the whole world. The Gelug Empire, which was at a loss and completely unaware of the situation, was naturally not immune."

Speaking of this, a pair of flame-like eyes condensed on the top of the sword mound. These eyes looked up at the top of the sacrificial hall, as if they could penetrate rock formations and crystals, and see the sky behind. The old man said softly: "The whole continent , are surrounded by a layer of black mist, the light of the sun and the moon becomes dim, and at night, there will be countless phantoms of the dead born from the black mist, attacking everything that can be attacked."

"The two great empires collapsed within a few years, and countless people were displaced and died unexpectedly."

With just a few words, soldiers can feel the bloody storm hidden in it

"And I woke up at that time."

At this time, the body of the heroic spirit Arenn once again condensed out. The old swordsman looked down at his body composed entirely of spirit matter and energy, and said sarcastically: "Not all souls have lost themselves, probably Probably because I have many descendants, under the worship of these children, I did not fall, but instead recovered part of my strength in life, and transformed into a legendary heroic spirit, guarding them in this crazy world."

"...So, at night, the entire Grandia world will turn into a dead zone where undead dance wildly?"

Hearing this, Joshua raised his eyebrows, and he asked in a very strange tone in Aren's ears: "So, what is their strength?"

"Most of them are just shadows that are weaker than ordinary people. As long as you have the courage, even a child can smash one or two."

The old swordsman shook his head: "If there are not too many, it can be said that there is no threat. Dire rats are more dangerous than them, but even so, there will be strong people like me in the dead shadow. They are the ender lords who command the shadows of the land, and they are also called leaders by other wise shadows."

"Is that so?" Joshua didn't feel sorry for losing a means of quickly accumulating experience, he just asked out of habit, and after thinking for a while, the soldier asked again: "I just heard you talking about heaven, Words like psionic energy, can you tell me how the extraordinary power system in your world is divided?"

Joshua came to this world with the main task of searching for the relics of the fourth sage, but there is also an opportunity for him to advance to the legend. In order to better understand the power of steel in the world of Grandia, soldiers naturally need to ask more about it Information.

"It seems that you are indeed from the outside world, and you actually asked such a question." Like Joshua, Arien seemed to be doubting the truth of what the soldier said before, but now he is Fully confirmed. He tidied up his vocabulary a little, and then explained it to Joshua in detail.

In the world of Grandia, extraordinary power is mainly divided into two schools, one is the "magic energy" system that refines the power of the earth spar, and the other is the "psychic energy" system that studies the power of one's own mind. The first line of practice is convenient and fast, as long as you have earth spar, you can advance, but it is limited by resources and cannot be popularized. Although the psionic line is popular, it often needs to reflect on your own soul, and it is difficult to achieve success.

The old swordsman was a powerful magic swordsman before he was alive. He had fought against countless powerful people in his life, so he knew all kinds of systems information very well, but the one he knew the most was the magic system.

The so-called earth spar is the original crystal. The carriage escorted by Davian's team is loaded with the original crystal used to maintain the cultivation of the extraordinary in this town, and the spar is also divided into grades. From the lowest level of gray crystal to the highest level of holy stone seed, there is a huge gap between them like heaven and earth.

With a thought of the old heroic spirit, a piece of high-quality 'cloud diamond' flew towards the warrior. Joshua reached out to grab it without any hesitation, and then began to explore its power.

"Before mastering the essence of the self and developing innate abilities, all the system levels are divided into junior, high, and third grades. After the innate abilities are developed, the magic energy is called the realm, and the psionic energy is called the realm. It's called a mentor." Yaren continued to explain while the warrior was studying the cloud drill.

——It seems that this so-called realm is the golden realm.

Joshua, a colleague who studied Yunzuan, nodded slightly to show that he was listening. Seeing this, the old swordsman continued: "As for an existence like you who has untied the shackles of nature and reached the limitless realm of the universe and sky, It is the heavenly realm in my mouth, and the pioneer in the mouth of those psychics."

"Yes, there are indeed similarities."

Joshua nodded thoughtfully. The so-called description of the heavenly realm is indeed somewhat similar to Jiyi, but this is not surprising. There are human beings and sage relics in the Grandia world. The Continent of Husband must have a lot to do with it, and even the origin of human beings in the Grandia world is very likely to be a batch of seeds transferred by sages, just like the father of nature once did.

And at this moment, the Heroic Swordsman, who was waiting for Joshua's next question, suddenly touched his sword hilt subconsciously with his right hand.

He sensed a trace of fighting spirit from the soldiers.

"how about you."

Joshua slowly stood up from the chair, he and the old swordsman looked at each other, and asked calmly: "The 'part' of the recovered power has the strength of the peak of the sky in your mouth, and from your tone, you seem to be Those psychic emperors and marshals of the Ulan Empire didn't care too much... I'm curious about your true strength."

The old man was silent, he just squinted his eyes and stared at the soldier with two weapons floating behind him.

"Talk a thousand words, it's better to try it with your hands. Only when you face each other with swords and swords can you reveal your true colors." The mysterious heroic swordsman said as if talking to himself, and he shook his head: "It's not surprising that you have this kind of personality. , but I will not fight with you, warrior from another world, my sword will only come out to protect something, this is my principle."

When he said this, the swordsman named Yaren even turned his back to Joshua, and the old man seemed to give up his defense completely.

The soldier frowned because of this, he withdrew his momentum, and then sat back in his seat.

"Boring guy." He said so, seemingly dissatisfied: "You refuse, and I won't force it, but you turned your back on me."

Joshua shook his head as if it was a great insult.

And it seems that because he used to deal with existences like warriors often, the old swordsman who already had a set of procedures for dealing with them chuckled lightly, and did not respond to Joshua's words. He asked calmly, "Excuse me, what questions do you have?" ?"

"No." Joshua shook his head and said, "This is enough."

He already has a general understanding of the situation in this world, and he also has a little knowledge of the system of supernatural powers in this place. Coupled with the world map that will be sent later, the soldier feels that this trip has been very rewarding, and he has been guarding the team of horse-drawn carriages for a long time. It doesn't hurt to be late.

The Heroic Swordsman named Aren Astoria was indeed a person who kept his promise. Apart from his own strength, he did not hide anything in his words. Joshua also understood the other party's choice very well—— In the face of an unknown origin that is powerful enough to destroy the village he cherishes, fully revealing his strength is the most stupid choice, so even a warrior has a great deal of respect for this obviously extraordinary swordsman. Interest, even if he is not a villain, he will not force it.

"You answered so many of my questions, and I should give something back."

Crushing the spar in his hand that has been completely analyzed and absorbed all the power into fine powder, the warrior sensed that the power liberation level in his body had risen to 39%, and said seriously: "By the way, thank you for this cloud. Drill."

Joshua, who absorbed the power inside the spar through the same steps as the superhumans of the mana series, and tempered his body, already had some clues about how to analyze the power of steel in this world.

The cloud-like original crystal that Yaren gave him contained some kind of power between vitality and magic elements. It could be easily accepted by the human body, but it could also show the power similar to the elements. Therefore, the magic energy in this world is all magic and martial arts, and the extraordinary power in their bodies is the product of this kind of power mixture that is completely repelled in the Mycroft Continent.

Dou Qi derived from life force and elemental magic power are all tributaries of the power of steel. Although they are inherently repulsive, there must be products that are fused like the original crystal in Grandia's world, which can carry it. The power that creates everything is the essence of the steel of origin. Just by imitating the power in the cloud drill and assimilating a little bit of fighting spirit in his body, Joshua increased the liberation rate by two points, which proved that he was looking in the right direction.

Therefore, the warrior did not hesitate to give the Heroic Swordsman a method to practice Dou Qi on the Mycroft Continent.

"this?!"

Listening to Joshua's dictation bit by bit about the most fundamental cultivation methods of battle qi and vitality, the old swordsman who had reached the peak of the magic energy system immediately knew how precious this cultivation method from another world was - this is There is another completely different but equally promising path to transcendence. In addition, for Arien, who has already been in a state of incomprehension, this knowledge can also make him go further, just like Joshua Yin's heart. Cloud Diamond benefits the same.

Is Yaren's heart a kind of person who is willing to accept favors from others? He answered Joshua's question because Joshua saved his descendants, and the heroic spirit will naturally give back the knowledge given by the warrior now. The two of them answered each other's doubts and shared their insights until the end Noon the next day.

The satisfied warrior, after taking a map marked with the forces of the vast majority of survivors in the world, kept his promise and simply left the village in the deep mountains. He followed the guidance of the mirror and headed west. .

The villagers who had bid farewell to Joshua and returned to their normal lives also began to work busy.

Inside the sacrificial hall in the center of the town, the old heroic spirit composed of countless light spots stood in front of his sword mound, closing his eyes and thinking about everything he heard not long ago.

"Grudge..."

He whispered to himself, and then, he could see a blue-golden flame rising from the old man's palm. Yaren opened his eyes, stared at the flame in his hand, nodded and said in admiration: "He didn't hide it... It seems that my premonition was wrong."

The reason why the old swordsman did not welcome Joshua to stay in the town for a long time was because he sensed the vast and terrifying resentment of the warrior like an ocean. This curse from countless dead surrounded him. As long as he released it a little, he would be able to Infecting tens of miles around into a field of despair, Yaleen was afraid that Joshua would accidentally release the resentment in his body and destroy the entire village, so he was willing to patiently answer every question of the other party, and then quickly sent people to the hospital. send away.

But now it seems that the warrior is not the kind of existence who is addicted to war and loves to kill. He will ignore everything when he is fighting. A warrior with great control and a will of iron.

"However, the awakening of this practice method is too dangerous. If the physique is not enough, it is easy to cause serious injury or even death... No wonder this kind of existence is cultivated."

Thinking of this, the Heroic Swordsman frowned, and he looked outside the sacrificial hall, those busy villagers, his descendants, with a trace of reluctance in his eyes: "And if there is no battle as nourishment, this kind of power will not progress. It's very slow, not as fast as magic can absorb the power of spar."

"Now the supply of spar is still sufficient."

Thinking of this, Yaleen made a decision: "Since this is the case, don't spread this kind of power for the time being, and let them try this kind of power that is easy to spread when there are no more crystals around to trade. .”

The leaves fell, time passed, and the warrior left the town three days later.

Originally sleeping in the altar, Yaren, who had lost his power to terminate the contract, suddenly opened his eyes.

Without any hesitation, the heroic swordsman turned away in an instant and came to the sky several miles away from the town.

"come out."

With a chill tone, he calmly shouted at the surrounding sky: "I won't say it a second time."

At this time, Yaren was not at all peaceful when communicating with the soldiers. At this time, he was like a sharp sword that was about to be unsheathed. The generated light is sweeping through every piece of void inch by inch, and traces of blue light extend along his gaze.

And the next moment, an indeterminate black shadow like mud emerged from the atmosphere, and then condensed into a shadow similar to a human shape.

"Earth Cracking Sword Saint Yaren Astoria."

The twisted and squirming human-shaped black shadow pointed at the old swordsman with a piercing and greasy tone and said with a sharp smile: "I am the third commander, Luoz, the shadow of change, by the order of my lord, I will come to the old swordsman." Come ask for some information."

"The third commander? It seems that the ranking has risen again."

Yaren didn't make a move on this monster that was obviously a dead shadow, he just closed his eyes with a little disgust, and said coldly: "But he promised me, as long as I don't make a move, I won't make a move." disturb my life."

"Jie Jie Jie Jie, how is it possible."

The shapeless shadow named Roz mocked in a sharp voice: "You are also an existence born from the 'ritual', how could you stay out of it? Let me tell you the truth, the plan to lead the adults is almost completed, but this At that time, there was an extremely powerful force that tore apart time and space, allowing an existence from another world to come into the world—he was an unplanned variable, the most dangerous unknown, and regarding his whereabouts, the leader was bound to win."

Having said that, the shadow turned to look at the busy but peaceful mountain town, and said sinisterly, "If you still want your descendants to live..."

Pooh.

The moment the mind couldn't perceive it, the shadow was cut into two parts.

Yaren, with his eyes still closed, didn't even put his hand on the hilt of the sword, but even so, after another moment, the so-called Changing Shadow slashed countless times with the sword, blowing into mist flying all over the sky.

"Even your commander-in-chief wouldn't dare to threaten me."

He said indifferently: "Go back."

And after more than ten seconds, the black mist flying all over the sky began to close slowly. After this large piece of weapons, which were so thin that they seemed to be completely non-existent, was gathered again, only a little bit the size of a fist remained. An extremely weak, but extremely resentful voice sounded from it: "No, you won't kill me."

As he spoke, the shadow gradually grew larger: "My main body is thousands of miles away. If you want to kill me through this clone, you have to draw your sword."

"However, as a heroic spirit, how many shots can you make with all your strength? It is said that the "Earth Cracking Sword" that made the mountains fall to the northwest, the earth split the abyss, and made the Ulan Empire dare not invade the territory for a hundred years, how many times can you use it to break the world? The power of the 'sanctuary'?"

"As long as you don't kill me, I will always threaten your descendants, but if you are willing to waste this sword on someone like me—"

Roz sneered viciously with a voice as if glass and steel were rubbing against each other: "I, Roz, die with no regrets!"

Taking a deep breath, the old swordsman did not continue to attack.

But he still kept silent, just firmly locked the powerful dead figure in front of him with his spirit.

"If you don't tell me, I have plenty of ways to find him!"

Although his mouth was not weak at all, Roz undoubtedly couldn't bear the oppression of Yaren's momentum. After barely holding on for more than ten seconds, he immediately fled.

Before leaving, this wise high-level dead figure still did not forget to cast a vicious curse: "Wait, Sword Saint Yaren, one day, you will lose everything you cherish, join our camp middle."

"At that time, the third commander will still choose to assist you, just like you did before your death."

Ten seconds later, Roz completely disappeared into the sky.

The old swordsman slowly opened his eyes.

Yaren held down the hilt of the long sword with simple decoration but surrounded by thunder, and fell into a long silence.

"What sword is it that makes the mountain tilt to the northwest and the earth split the abyss?"

After a long time, he whispered to himself, but then, the old man laughed at himself and shook his head: "No more."

Yingling turned his head and walked slowly towards the small village that he vowed to protect for the rest of his life. For this reason, he was willing to violate his heart, seal his sword, and sit and watch countless conspiracies happen before his eyes.

A man-made river flows slowly along the edge of the village.

The town of Arenn is built on a flat hilltop.

It seems that there is something that cuts off the mountain peak.

The fighter who was flying at an altitude of several thousand meters stopped in doubt and scanned his surroundings.

"Strange, I feel hostility."

He said to himself strangely: "Who is so bold?"

7,000 words, this must be two updates in one, right?

During the ti period, ask for a monthly pass!

Responding to the book review section, the protagonist can't be legendary so quickly, how can there be such an upgrade...